Association between initial findings leading to Behçet’s disease diagnosis and further organ involvements

Abstract

Objectives: Studies show that the symptoms are clustered in certain ways in Behçet’s disease (BD), which causes involvement of multiple organs. We aimed to investigate the association between clinical findings at onset and further organ involvements, which may occur during follow-up. Materials and Methods: A total of 363 patients diagnosed with BD in accordance with the International Criteria for BD (ICBD) between 2003 and 2019 at the Inonu University were included in the study, and all the first findings were compared with further organ involvements. Results: A statistical significance was detected between erythema nodosum like lesions and both pulmonary (P = 0.002) and vascular (P = 0.022) involvements. The frequency of neurological involvement was higher in patients with papulopustular/pseudo-follicular lesions (P = 0.043). Gastrointestinal involvement was detected in 33.3% of the patients with herpetiform aphthae. The frequency of ocular involvement was significantly higher in patients with a negative pathergy test result (P = 0.013). Conclusion: The clinical clusters in BD may provide a predictive value about the disease course for clinicians. Although it has been shown that there is an association between some clinical findings and involvements which are mentioned before, this is one of the most comprehensive studies according to us. The clinical clusters in BD may provide a predictive value about the disease course for clinicians. Although it has been shown that there is an association between some clinical findings and involvements in the literature, this is one of the most comprehensive studies as far as we know.